Chapter 11
Sonic ran through the workshop in a hurry.
"Tails? Tails? We're leaving in ten minutes!"
"Just a second!" The young fox called from behind a damaged tank. He hopped over it, grabbing a few guns and stuffing them into his pack as he went.
"Hurry up!"
"Yeah, yeah…"
Sonic ran the whole way to the helipad. Tails arrived a few minutes later and caught his breath as he got in.
"Everyone got everything?" Sonic asked. Tails checked through his pack for all the various firearms and gadgets.
"Got my guns right here!" Knuckles said as he punched his fist against his palm.
"Let's see… roll call… one, two, three… yep! Got everything." Amy said as she counted the quarterstaff, sword and hammer stashed on her back. Rouge tightened her whip and reloaded her pistol. She pulled the dagger out of her boot, tossed in the air and slipped it back in. Shadow sharpened his machete against the side of the chopper while he checked his rifle.
"Hey! Don't do that!" Jet called back from the cockpit as he checked his pistol. Wave twirled her two machine pistols on her fingers. Storm punched something, as usual.
Knuckles kissed Tikal before he got on the chopper. The chopper rose high above the tree line.
"Bye, guys!" Chris called out from the helipad. Tails pulled an empty bottle from his pack.
"I've been saving this for just such an occasion." He dropped the bottle out the side.
"Aagh!"
"All right! Right in the forehead!" Sonic and Tails hi-fived.
They left, heading out further than they had ever gone before. They were heading for Robotropolis.
Two hours later and their sunrise takeoff had matured into a mid-morning landing. They were at the extremity of Robotropolis. This was the boundary where the natural landscape ended and the artificial one began. Anywhere within fifteen miles of the city was a roboticised environment, mostly metal surfaces and urban wasteland. Vast networks of storm drains, service tunnels and pipelines extended underground to the city. This was the easiest way in as above the ground was heavily patrolled. The only resistance would be a few hubs of Ixus Naugus' human guards.
Heavy pollution blanketed the sky. Even though it was only ten in the morning, it was dark.
"Okay, we'll take the straight centre route through the service tunnels. Jet, you and your team take those storm drains. If there's a flash flood, the airboards should come in handy escaping it. Shadow, you take the flank service tunnels. Once we get to the other side, we'll radio you to meet up."
A pipe of power lines led into a small hub. It was devoid of sentries and looked like it had been for a while. Sonic dropped down to check the pipe across the way.
"It splits up," He called back.
"How many?"
"Two. They pretty much go the same way, but they're separate."
"Should we split up?" Amy asked with concern, dropping down to join Sonic.
"Good idea. We'll go that way, and Tails & Knuckles can go that way."
"Wait, how do we have any guarantee that you won't just go off and have sex somewhere?" Tails complained.
"Yeah, eh, what he said!" Knuckles added.
"You've got a point."
"Randy bastard…" Amy muttered under her breath.
"I'll go with Tails, Knuckles can go with Amy." Knuckles hastened to the bend on the pipe.
"Come on!"
"Sonic, wait," Amy took Sonic by the shoulders. Sonic grabbed her elbows. They kissed. Tails rolled his eyes.
"Okay, Casanova, let's go already!"
They broke a few seconds later. A quick hug and they went their respective ways. Tails tossed a radio to Knuckles.
Sailing along in a fairly empty sewer, Jet kept his eyes peeled for anything suspicious. Twenty minutes with nothing? Something must be wrong. Suddenly the pipe came to an end. The three of them flew out over what must have been a small fortress. Jet stared in horror as dozens of alarmed guards looked up and pointed guns at them. He tried to land behind a couple of barrels for cover. Wave landed on a car. The front of her board smashed the windscreen. She hopped behind it to duck from incoming fire. Storm fell down the chasm between the platform and the walls as the bottom of his board was peppered with bullets. He was lucky enough to grab on to the floor below, avoiding a very long fall. His board fell away towards the black abyss.
Shadow peered round the edge of the wall. Two guards alone. Easy pickings. Rouge stood at the opposite wall. If this was a few years ago, she would have lit a cigarette, but she gave up with the idea that if anything was going to kill her, it would be one of Eggman's robots.
"Looking at your lunch?" She said nonchalantly to Shadow. Shadow glared at her and shushed her. He turned back to the guards. Didn't hear anything. Perfect.
He lunged out at the far one. He slid his machete easily into his neck at an angle as he attempted to stand on his shoulder. As he pulled it away, the head rolled down a hole. The body collapsed. He turned to the other, pointing his gun at him.
"Do you feel lucky, punk? Well? Do you?" The guard turned to flee. Just after he started running, he fell into a pit. Shadow smiled as the guard defeated himself.